Untitled Until Futher Notice
by BerryRain
Summary: Kane Kaipuri is in Rae's Cliaire town. And the tension between the two isn't all huggy either. A delightful read for all those wishing they could see the MFOMT kids grow up. TADA! In this fic, that's all there is! Hormonal teenagers. Chap. 4 is up!
1. Rae

**://Authorly Notes\\:** Well, it has certainly been a long while since I last written anything. However, for those of you who are fans of _What the Poor Man Can Give_, don't get too excited because that one is on HIATUS. Anyway, I've been working on this story for a long while, maybe about two years, but I haven't put it on this site because I simply didn't think it was ready. I have a wholenotebook of ideas for this. I was curious about what the kids of the traditional canon couples would be like. Of course, I have them all planned out in my little notebook and even have pictures of them all on my comp, which died yesterday. But when I get a new battery (Thursday-ish), then I'll upload them and post the links on whichever the latest chapter is, okay? So enjoy the story of Raegan "Rae" Ackerman and Kane Carlisle, and how they change a whole town.

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**Untitled Until Further Notice**

Chapter I: "Rae"

Prologue:

I have always been an honest person.

How I voice my honesty depends on how stupid the person I'm being honest to is. I'm not a mean person, at least I don't think so, but I'm not going to stretch my neck out under the guillotine just to be "nice". Not even Ann and Manna _combined_ could about to the honesty I have, at least that's what my mom said.

But then again, my mom came from the city, not that any of that matters because, frankly, that would mean I was raised under the wing of a city girl, but I live in the country, which means that I have a well balanced growth...thingy. Or whatever. Any way, my dad's from some mountain out in who knows where. He doesn't really talk about his life before coming to Mineral Town. I mean, I know that his mom is dad and he never met his dad and his sister has been MIA since '88, but other than that, I don't know much about his childhood or anything like that.

My mom is an open book though. She's got parents, but Grampa Yo-man has cancer and Big G-ma is completely devoted to him living life to the fullest before he dies, so we don't here from them all that much. Mom used to be a avant-garde model (oooh, fanshy, shmanshy) in the big NY, but moved in to the farm with some dude after some realty people ripped her off and sold her already sold property. The property came with the dude as my mom found. Face palm, right? Yeah, that dude died. Well, he married Ann, _then_died. I think his name was Peter. Or Pete. Or maybe that was a nickname--whatever, anyway...He went of to some war.

You see, this war is something everyone in the country has to fight, and when I say that, I mean the oldest kid of every family is marked with dogtagsso that if we get drafted and we don't go to the place where people go to be soldiers, they track us down and punishour families while we go to the worst boot camp ever. Wow, off topic much? But yeah, no one knows what this whole war thing is about, but I heard that our side is winning and it's starting to slow down, so that means me and my compadres or whatever that word is don't have to go off with a gun and kill or be killed.

But this whole thing I'm doing now? It's not a war story, and it's not a story about my 'rents. It's about Kane. And me. And the whole town. This is about us and a limited summer. Theirs friendship, family-ship, and the typical "I heart thou" teenager romance-ship that never worked out in the end and everyone has a life lesson under their belts which ultimately messes up their future relationships. This is Mineral Town like you've never seen it before, through my eyes.

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I seriously heart summer. Really. It's my favorite season. I don't have homework and I get to wear shorts and a tank top and fix my farmer's tan from the rest of the year. I can't help it though, I love being outside. So does my 'rents. But then again, Mom's the big farmer and Dad's the mystery mountain boy, so that explains everything. I was in the apple tree, the only one in the town. Or at least that's how it was until Mom made a mini-orchard in the woods. Crap, getting off topic, gotta stay focused. Sorry, I have a mayfly for a brain. Seriously, I have the worst focus every--God I gotta stop that. Okay, on with the story, on with it.

Every morning, when I wake up, I throw on a bra and head outside in my pjs. The bra is because I can't stand the whole "hanging free" thing, and plus I'm normally chillin' out in the apple tree until about 6:00, when Dad finishes the breakfast making. During that time, I just enjoy the crispy cool of the morning. And I really like that we aren't in the valley because it gets **hooooooooot **there during the summer. I like hot, but poor Ms. Nami looks like she's dying when ever I visit.

But this morning was different. There was a weird energy. It kinda crackled as the hour I was out there went on, and I'm no psychic like that Chris lady in the valley, but I felt a storm coming and the day was cloud-free. I knew that Kai was coming and I knew Rick still hadn't gotten used to the idea of Popuri being married to him, but they don't even fight that much anymore. It was just something in the air.

My dad came out of the house, "Rae!" he called. "Come on, breakfast." he called for me.

"Ohemgee, I smell cheese omelets." I jumped out of the tree, eager to devour my cheesy-eggilicious-goodness, but as luck would have it, our new dog--which I've lovingly named Crazy Loco because, let's face it, he's not as cool as Roku was. And Roku came with the property when Mom first came here--was parked under the tree, belly up. Me with my mad ninja skills, I had to make a snap decision. It was either squelch the dog with my Doc Martin knock-offs or do a split and pop my hips out of place.

I chose to land on one leg and not only sprain my knee, but my ankle as well, as I landed on the side of my foot, which caused me to lose my balance and, oh, did I mention I also cracked me head open?

This is how I start the summer.

My dad just screamed, "Rae!" like any good worrying father would and ran towards me at speeds that could win the town field day against Mom any day. Mom however, popped her head outside with a piece of toast in her mouth and walked, not ran, to the stables to get Zolo, our oldest, but strongest horse. I think he's been around for about twenty-something years now. Roku, the dog I was talking about, died last year at age twenty. That's like, one hundred and forty in dog years. Holy carp. And yes, I meant carp.

Well then, back to my excruciating pain, I think Dad would have went lumberjack on me if I said "ow" or cried, so I just strained out an "I'm okay, Dad..." and continued to not cry.

"Rae, sweetie, are you okay--Oh my--Are you--You fell and I thnk you broke your leg--How do you feel?" Dad stammered and checked my legs and arms and head. I think I was bleeding because he felt the side of my head where I hit it on the tree and his eyes got all wide and scared. "Claire! She's bleeding, Claire!" oh yeah, I was bleeding.

"Well, pick her up so we can get her on Zolo and get her to the clinic!" she huffed as she and Zolo skidded to a halt in front of us.

Dad's face scrunched up from all the stress. "B-But the horse and the running--it could hurt her more! A-And she could fall off and--"

"Cliff!" Mom yelled over him. He stopped.

"Y-Yes, Claire?"

Mom smiled reassuringly. "Get our girl on the horse."

Dad nodded and helped me stand ever so gentily so he could pick me up. "You're going to be alright, Rae."

"Yeah, Dad. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to die." I choked out through the owies. Mom chuckled. She knew I was going to be okay. I _was _an Ackerman, afterall. Amazing bounce back power with the genes I have.

Even though it was Wednesday, Doctor Timmy "Doom" Rask and his trusted side-kick, Nurse Joy A.K.A Mrs. Elli Rask, were still in, and I guess they saw me coming because it only took one knock before the Cara of the "My Beloved" twins threw open the door in complete concern.

Okay, really quick, I'm going to explain the whole "My Beloved" thing. You see, Elli's bff is Mary, the librarian. Both of them love reading and trade spicy romance novels. Duh. They're chicks. Who read. The thing is, Elli, being a fan of "_le amour_" named her twin girls, Mia and Cara, which means "my" and "beloved" respectively in Italian. Creepy, but it's still really cute, I mean, come on.

Cara, with her intense slate eyes and onyx black hair, looks 100% like Tim, while Mia has the wavy brown hair and baby-blue eyes from cuteness hell. And they both act like their respective gene donors...respectively, meaning Cara is to Tim as Mia is to Elli. Only both are Tim and Elli's personalities time ten. Basically, Cara's intense and serious and border-line monotone, and Mia is the bubbly whirlwind who likes cute and frilly. Only she dresses in a watered down Punk-lolita. Yeah, you'll just have to meet them.

Back to the story, Cara, all concern and seriousness, opens the door wide for me to limp in. As we were walking in, Elli was coming down the stairs, still in her nighty, but with her frilly little apron on. Doctor himself was already prepping the examination table with that annoyingly crackly paper. He looked pretty professional, save for the star printed sleep pants under his coat. I turned my head in my half-conscioushaze, trying to find Mia, and noticed I had blood running down my neck, some of in already dried. Mia came running down the stairs, her little lab coat on over her over sized tee-shirt and Choco Cat slippers. She looked more worried than anyway, with her horror filled eyes and pale face.

"Oh my God! Rae, are you okay!? Oh my god, omigawd! Dad, we need to fix her!!"

I tried to rolled my eyes, but I do the head back thing when I do it, and ended up pulling the dried blood, which hurt.

Karma sucks.

As soon as I sat my silly self down, Doctor Timmeh pulled on his gloves and inspected my head. "So what happened this time?" he asked. I opened my mouth to defend myself and say that I certainly do not always get hurt and to imply other wise is certainly wrong, but he smirked and gave a pointed glance at me. "Claire?"

Mom laughed. "Fell out of the tree again."

I wanted to go "Did not!" but uh, hello? I was hurtin'! "Doc..." I strained. My voice sounded all weak and gravely. "Got any pain killers maybe?"

He looked surprised. I really normally don't ask, unless I'm in a lot of pain. "Of course!" he held his hand out. "Elli, could you--"

Elli smiled. "I'm on it." she opened a cabinet behind his desk and pulled out a bottle that contained what I hoped was morphine or something. Then Elli pulled out a needle. I have zero beef against needles, especially now, but I turned and looked at Mia. Her eye twitched. Yeah. Mia doesn't like needles. And she wants to be a doctor. Haha.

Cara looked away from the needle and at me. "So, I take it the dog was lying under the tree or something?"

How does this chick know these things? "Yeah..."

She nodded. "I'm going to guess that you were getting ready to kill it with those clomping shoes of yours and you did the right thing and killed yourself to save him?" she crossed her arms, holding her elbows and standing straight and tall, watching me through her silver rimmed glasses she bought herself two summers ago.

"Yeah..." I repeated. I looked at my arm to see when Elli was going to poked me with the needle, but she was already throwing it away and I already had a bandaid on my arm and Mia already looked like she was getting ready to toss her cookies. Yay...

While I was getting patched up, Mom was looking at the clock anxiously. Kai is like her best friend. After Carter and Dad of course. And Gray is right up there with Kai. Yeah, I know, it's weird that I know who's where on Mom's BFF list, but hey, it's good to know your 'rents. Kai normally shows up on the nine o' clock boat, with Popuri and a months worth of luggage in tow. Which is like, two bags in Kai terms, but like, five in Popurilanguage. Mom glanced up at me and I gave her a drug induced grin, making her gigglea little bit.

"Whut time be-eth it, mi madre?" I slurred. Doc raised an eyebrow at Elli, who shrugged.

"I let Mia fill the syringe." she explained. "I thought it would help her get acquainted with it. I guess I should have checked to see if she filled it right."

I looked at Mia, who stood next to Cara, who was giving her the "smooth move, ex-lax" look. "Aw, shucks, Doctor Timmy Doomy Man..." I giggled. "She wasn't hurtin' nothin."

Mom laughed her hearty belly laugh and Tim dropped his jaw, looking like a gaping fish. "Doctor Timmy...What?"

* * *

Doc let us leave shortly after I was all patched up and issued my super cool crutches that I was not allowed to draw on but I was going to draw on anyway which is why I was given the ones that I've been given since I twisted my ankle when I was five and drew on but I didn't know I wasn't suppose to ones. Yeah, something like that. Anyway, Elli keeps them behind her desk. They literally have my name on them. When I dislocated my hip, I wrote "RAE" in huge block letters on the side of both of the legs. I pretty much just add stickers and drawing and stuff to them.

Goddamn, I need to work ont he staying on topic thing.

Mom looked at her watch. "Ohmigawd, Kai is coming in five seconds." She whipped her head at me. "I didn't even change out of my night clothes!" she squealed.

"Whoa..." I quirked up an eyebrow. "Mom your freakin out more than Eminem in 'Kim', just chill." I brushed my bangs forward. "Kai isn't gonna care what you wear. He's, like, one of your best posse members, poncho." I stabbed myself in the eye with a lock of hair. "Ow..."

"It's not about Kai, sweetheart." Mom chuckled.

"It isn't?"

"No." She pointed her chin in the general direction of the rest of the town. "It's them."

"Mom, I thought you ran out in the snow in a bikini once because Roku had your journal."

She put her hands on my shoulder. "That was different."

"How?"

"Because I said so. Now then." She looked at the sky and ran her fingers through her hair. "Letsee...How much longer do you think the drugs will keep you from hurting, you think?"

I shrugged, "Doctor Doom only knows. And God. And the Goddess. " I shifted my weight on my good leg and held my chin thoughtfully. "I dunno, I like saying God better, it's just easier to say, you know? Like all the kids at school look at us Mineral Towners all funny because we'll be 'Oh my Goddess' and--"

"Rae, sweety, focus." She did pointed to her eyes. "I want you to go meet Kai at the beach, okay?"

"Yeah, beach. Gotcha." I gave her a thumbs up and shook my hair out. My hair is a bright popping orange. Why? I don't know. Mom's a blond, Dad's got brown hair with that crazy blondish tip thing going on (can you believe that's natural?) but I'm a red-head like Ann and Gray. I mean wtf, yo? Anyway, I'm a pretty active little kid and, unlike my mom, my hair frizzes out and I end up looking like one of those 70s dream girls, so I cut it all off into the boy cut of the lively. I like it. My parents were cool with it. It was just Manna (my faux Gram, but still so awesome) who flipped a lid about cutting off all my "beautiful, beautiful hair!!" Ha. Right.

"Okay, I'm taking Zolo, do you want me to drop you off at the beach?" Mom asked me. She patted Zolo, who looked at her with the eyes of an elder.

I looked down the path. "Well, Timmy the Doctor Guy said to lay off the leg." I said.

Mom nodded. "Duh." she face palmed and hoisted me up on the horse. I didn't get the chance to fix my O face before she was riding off. I love riding Zolo, don't get me wrong. Just the sheer muscle of the house rippling under his skin, I'll be honest, it's pretty sexy in a non-bestiality kind of way, you know? Before long Mom was pulling me off the horse. She gently set me down and kissed my head. "I'm sorry to be leaving you like this." She said. "I really shouldn't be freaking out so much, I know, but still..."

"I get it, I get it. Just go put some clothes on before all the men in the town start trying to have an affair." I waved her off. As I crutched onto the concrete platform I suddenly remembered that there were stairs.

I'm not good with stairs.

"Rae!!" I heard someone call from the beach. "Is that my favorite red-head?"

I turned around. "Is that my favorite sexual predator with my favorite pink-headed wife of the sexual predator? Why yes it is!" Okay, for the readers out there, I know your mouths are hanging open like "WTF?!?" but don't worry, in fourth grade I asked Kai if he was a predator because McGruff the crime dog came to our school telling us that any adult we didn't trust could be a predator, and to be honest, Kai had forgotten to bring me this Japanese soda he promised, so I didn't think I could trust him...Poor Kai. His face was hilarious though, I mean he did one of those faces that you only see in cartoons where the eyes are wide open like a fish and the mouth is extended passed the chin and to the floor.

Kai laughed. "You are never going to live that down, are you?"

"And you're never going to give up on me living it down for you, or whatever!" I have a way with words.

Popuri took Kai's hand and hopped to the dock. "Oooh! Rae! I have missed you sooooo much!!" she squealed in her squealy pink-hair way. "How have you been?!"

"C'mere and give me a hug!" he dropped his bags and opened his arms wide, expecting me to do what I always do and jump down from the concrete stairs and run to him giving him the best-damn hug ever, which I would have done, except when I forgot about the crutches, I ended up jumping with my bad leg, which collapsed, causing me to flip forward over the concrete rail and hit the sand. Did I mention that I blacked out?

And while I was in the process of blacking out, I heard a laughter that caused an inexplicable fury deep inside of my chest, and the crackling energy from this morning was immediately back.

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**://Authorly Notes\\:**Yeah, I know. Not a lot of action in this one. Really this was a characterization piece for our littleHeroine, Rae!! :D Oh, and in the middle of writing this, the song "Sexy Vampire" came on, by Fright Ranger, and I about lost my sanity because I had a visual of the MFOMTcharacters dancing and doing a little dance skit to this in a bar! OMG it was so funny! There was Karen as the singer and Tim as the vampire and it was great! I'll give whoever make a fanfic outta this an HM oneshot (MFOMT, AWOL, DScute only) of their choosing, no lie! XD

Ahem, anyway, next is **Chapter II: Kane**!


	2. Kane

**://Authorly Notes\\:** Here we go again! I don't really have to put a disclaimer, but honestly, I think it would be so cool if the owner of Natsume and Harvest Moon wrote a fanfic and put "And yes, I do own Harvest Moon". XD

* * *

**Untitled Until Further Notice**

Chapter II: "Kane"

Kane always thought his parents were very different from each other. His dad was a big flirty nice-guy and his mom was the insecure clingy woman. The two didn't really mix well, but between Kai's charming and Popuri's childish clinginess, the two have never really grown apart. Even still, Kane could easily see that Kai had never really wanted to be married. Nevertheless, he knew that his dad would never cheat on his mom.

But just from looking at his dad, he knew that love didn't really exsist.

Kane was a smart kid, and he knew it. He had As and Bs all down his report cards. He retained just about everything he learned in previous classes and magazines and the internet. He was a smart kid. It was his attitude that needed adjusting. Chores were done right and without question or asking. Dishes were cleaned, floors were swept and vaccumed and toilets were sparkling. It was his parents way of making him a good man...Yeah right. Kane didn't belive in love. Not even with his family. True, the chores have made him responcible, but it wasn't like that was Kai and Popuri's intention, right?

Every summer they sent Kane to Kai's mom. He and his Nana worked on her day lily farm in Virginia. She was the one who almost made him believe in love.

Too bad she died a month ago.

Now he's on a boat, going to Mineral Town with Kai and Popuri. It would be the fourth time in his life he met his other grandmother and his uncle. Kai and Rick don't see eye to eye, mainly becuase Rick is always bothering Kai about Popuri, and supposedly Kai didn't like Rick because he was just annoying. Kane knew better however. He knew that Rick hating Kai was true, but Kai hated Rick because Rick badgered him for no reason. Kai never wanted to marry Popuri. It was simple.

Kane sat outside, letting the wind whip at his hair while his parents were inside, talking and chatting and being a couple, but not a married couple. He snorted. His parents thought he had a problem with attitude. Yeah right. They had the problem. They made it terribly easy for him to know the truth about the whole "love" scene, especially Kai. Popuri wasn't in love with Kai either. She was obsessed with the image of traveling. And marriage. Not Kai. Kane looked up from the water below. It was clear from what he could see. Not murky and brown like on the east coast. At his Nana's, the river water was only clear in the winter when there wasn't anyone boating or crabbing in the channels. And the air was fresh. Fresher than the air in the Northern Neck of Virginia even, but then again the fumes from the fish factory would blow over every once in a while, causing a musky fish smell to wash over the residential area. Better that than the tons of exhaust in the city, though.

The sun started beating down on Kane's back, and he started to regret wearing black, but black was the color he wore. He felt uncomfortable in any other color...Even though black isn't really a color, it's a neutral. As the sunlight started frying his combat boots (Bates, bought directly from the Air Force Base), he started to wonder about what he was going to see when he got to Mineral Town. A bunch of country bumkins? Probably. All of them with some kind of country fried accent straight from hillbilly hell. He grimaced. This summer was going to be hell. It's bad enough Kai and Popuri wouldn't let him go to Nana's house for the summer. The will said her property was his, so why couldn't he go there and take over the day lily farm? Oh, that's right. Because he was "only seventeen, and too young to be in a place by himself". Well what the hell, he was going to college when the summer was over and he was staying in Nana's house while going to college so what. The. Hell?

"Kane, baby!" Popuri called from the window in the cabin. "You should come inside! Zack has some interesting stories to tell!" she coaxed.

Kane turned his gaze on her. "No." he said stoticly.

Her eyebrowns furrowed. "Are you sure? It must be getting hot. You might feel more comfortable inside."

"No, _thank you_." he answered with faux politeness through his gritted teeth.

Popuri squirmed, but soon straightened uncertainly. "I really think you should come in though. You're going to get hot under that sun and this way we can be like a big happy family." her expression lightened as she neared the end of her offer, but was soon squashed.

"Popuri," Kane started. "What family?"

Popuri ducked back in through the window and closed it. The ride was silent for the remainder of the trip.. Kane was glad that Kai didn't try to come out. God knows he didn't need to get into another fight with his dear father. He snorted. Maybe he should lay off the snide remarks and sarcasm.

Or maybe he should get a root canal without any novicane.

Kane knew it wasn't his fault he was "hateful" and "anti-social". It was his parents. Way to go on the love there, guys. They could have at least noticed how perseptive Kane was and _try_ to act like they love _each other_. He looked up from the water and shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the square cloth deep in the fabric of his pants where no one would ever see it.

Even if Kai and Popuri didn't love Kane the way they should, it didn't stop Kane from at least loving Kai and Popuri the way he should. Even if it meant hiding Kai's old bandana on his person. Kai gave him that bandana when he was about ten, hoping (as Kane saw it) the gesture would cause some father-son bonding, and that Kane would be just like his dad, a bandana wearing pirate. After Kane snatched the bandana with rolling eyes and walked away, he silently thought to himself that, maybe, just maybe, his parents cared enough to try and show him that they do love him. However, Popuri could on that Kane appreciated the gesture and ever since, they had a pattern. Smother, space, yell, repeat. They would smother him with trying to include him in everything and offer him things, then they would get the hint and back off, then they would get sick of his attitude and fight with him and each other, then they would feel bad and smother him again.

Kane's chest started hurting again. He groaned and pressed his hand where his heart would be. He glanced up, seeing land, obviously Mineral Town. From what he could see, it wasn't going to be that much of a hick town, which was great, but for some reason looking at the town just infuriated him.

"Almost there, bud." Kai called from the cabin. "Can you see the beach?"

Kane didn't even acknowledge the question with an answer. Instead he turned slowly to give Kai the "are you stupid?" look he normally give Popuri, but stopped. Kai looked elated. Popuri came out of the cabin and joined Kane at the bow, keeping her distance, but still grinning excitedly all the same. Kane looked back out to the beach, which was getting closer fast. Whatever's in that town must be worth coming every summer for. Kai squeezed in between Kane and Popuri. "See that white shack?"

Kane nodded. "Yeah."

"That's my shack."

"Really?" Kane wasn't feigning the interest in his voice. He was genuinely curious.

Kai picked up on it and grinned stupidly at Kane. "Yep! Kai's Seaside Lounge! I came here when I was a teenager, and when I had the construction worker build that shack, I painted it white."

Kane raised an eyebrow, barely looking Kai in the eyes. "And that's important why?"

Kai laughed. "Because it made the whole male part of the town hate my guts!" Kane turned his attention back to the beach. _Nice_, he thought to himself.

The boat began to slow until they were putting up to the dock. Kai grabbed a rope and stood up on the bow. Zack halted the boat right next to the dock with flawless effort, and Kai jumped to the dock and roped it in. Kane walked back into the cabin to get the luggage. He was starting to think the main reason he did work without Kai and Popuri asking was to subconsciously make them upset at how robotically responcible he was, not that it was working but still.

"Ey!" Kai was shouting outside. Though he couldn't tell if he said "hey" or "ray". It was probably the first one though. Kane's grandfather on Popuri's side has been out of the picture since before Kai and Popuri met. "Is that my favorite red-head?!" he heard Kai shout outside. He was probably yelling at that Gray guy he talks about. Or Gray's cousin-sister thing, Ann. Kane never couild figure out which one she was.

"Is that my favorite sexual predator with my favorite pink-headed wife of the sexual predator?" a girl shouted back.

"What the--" Kane hit his head on the opening to go below the deck. "Ah, hell..." he rubbed his head. Well at least he knew it was Ann that Kai was talking to. He grabbed a couple suitcases and started up the couple stairs.

"You're never going to live that down are you?" Kai laughed.

"And you're never going to give up on me living it down or whatever!"

Kane snorted. "She sounds articulate." he snickered to himself. He pushed the door to the deck open as his mother chirped into the converstation.

"Oh! Rae, I've missed you so much! How've you been?!"

Kane quirked up an eyebrow. "Rae?" he turned to look at the person his parents were gushing over. "Rae?"

"C'mere and give me a hug!" Kai opened his arms wide.

He couldn't see her. Carefully, but with purpose, he stepped forward towards the bow. When he was well away from the cabin, he looked up.

No. No that girl was definately **not** Ann.

First of all, Ann was suppose to have a long braid. Braid this "Rae" girl did not have. In fact, she would be lucky to get a pony tail out of that nappy pixie cut. Second, Ann was suppose to be pale because of all the working in a kitchen, and "Rae" had a deep tan. A farmers tan from hell, but a tan nonetheless. Plus, "Rae's" face just pissed him off for some reason, Ann's probably wouldn't. And on top of all of this...

Ann would definately not flip over a wall and fall into the sand. Just "Rae's" facial expression itself was enough to send Kane into a fit of laughter.

Kai and Popuri ran over to Rae, obviously worried even though Kane couldn't see anything through the tears in his eyes.

"HEY!!" a booming voice screamed at Kane. His laughter stopped abruptly, and he knew that when he turned around, he was going to see Zack, an old drill sergeant of a man.

"What?" he turned his head to the side, looking at him over his shoulder. Zack was indeed glaring at him, and he was indeed ready to blow a casket.

"DON'T LAUGH AT OTHER'S MISFORTUNE! ESPECIALLY NOT MY RAE!" he commanded. Kane stuck his finger in his ear.

"Uh...ow?"

Zack was already running to the other side of the beach, joining Popuri and Kai as they flocked and freaked about Rae, who didn't look like she was moving. Kane's chest started hurting again, more so in guilt than the pain he felt before. He put down the couple of bags he hand in his hands and joined the others. The first thing he noticed when he got up to the unconscious Rae was that she had bandages everywhere. One on her head, two on her leg, all recent looking, and a couple older looking bandaids on her hands, face, and elbows. Obviously she was active.

"We should go to the doctor--"

"But we can't move her--"

"Shouldn't we go get Claire or Cliff--"

"Is she breathing--"

Suddenly, gigantic Zack scopped Rae up as gently as a he was a new born kitten. "We knew to take her to the clinic!" he annouced in his gravely voice. Kai and Popuri nodded obediently. Popuri picked up a couple of colorful crutches with "Rae" on the side of them and followed Zack. Kai went to follow and stopped, turning to face Kane. "There's a farm at the very corner of the town. Go through the square and make a left and then a mandatory right."

_Kai knows that word?_ Kane thought to himself.

"You can't miss the farm. Go there and tell Claire and Cliff what happened." Kane nodded. Kai stared hard at Kane for a minute, as if trying to assess something. Kane turned his gaze to the retreating forms of Zack and Popuri. Kai followed his gaze and jumped, scrurrying up the stairs.

"I hope she doesn't die." Kane said to himself absently before climbing the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he suddenly got the feeling that Mineral Town wasn't as country-fried as he had initially thought. "Wow. Nice square." he bent down and touched the ground as he walked. "Cobblestone." he noted. He stared ahead at the road to the right. "And that just about ruins the whole thing." he sighed, catching sight of the church. It was big, and it was beautiful, but it was a church, and Kane hates all forms of religion. Just the hipocracy of it all.

He began walking to the left, down the road Kai directed him to go. He saw a lot of trees and plants everywhere, and though it was a hot day, the air was fresh and cool with the wind. When he turned down the road he saw a couple farms and houses. "All of them are different..." he murmured in awe. The city was always so monotonous. Everything and everyone was the same. Cows, chickens, a blacksmith, everything was so rural, but not in a bad way. Not at all. Kane saw the dead end in front of him, with the road branching off in two ways. Left or right?

"Boo."

Kane jumped. "Holy shit!!" his heart began pumping so hard that his heart started hurting again.

The girl next to him laughed. "Oh yeah, you're definately new."

Kane didn't even try to act cool. "What the hell, lady. What. The. Hell..." he fought to catch his breath.

The girl laughed. "Well, I'm on my way to meet this guy at the beach."

Kane offered a nervous smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Yeah, I have to find Claire. This girl Rae had an accident at the beach--"

"Rae did what now?!" the girl's mouth was opened in a huge O.

Kane jumped again. "She's at the clinic. She flipped over the stairs or something." this girl was really taking it seriously.

She whurled around, her blond hair flying behind her. "Cliff!" she called over the gate of the farm frantically. "Get Zolo! Rae had another accident!"

An older man with a ponytail jumped over the gate with his horse. "Come on, Claire, get on."

"Oh _you're_ Claire." Kane realized. "Are you her sister or something?"

"No, I'm her mother." she deadpanned. Before Kane could react, the horse had already left.

"Uh...holy shit."

* * *

**://Authorly Notes\\:** Yay Kane! He's such a complex character, but still so hot. At least in my head. ._. I love comments!

Next: **Chapter III: "Impression"**


	3. Engage

**://Authorly Notes\\:** Onwards and forwards. I've been working on this for awhile and I'm so glad that I'm finally putting this story out. It's my baby. *snuggles notebook with original story written in it* And now to reply to my lovely reviewer(s):

**babygal** - The next chappie is out...now!

* * *

**Untitled Until Further Notice**

Chapter III: "Engage"

Kane watched as Claire and Cliff rode of towards the northern part of town. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they wouldn't be back for a couple hours, and Kane didn't know anyone in town (well he knew Rick and Grandmother Lillia), nor did he know where anything was. He turned back to the farm. It was well kept. The field was frappin' huge, with a whole bunch of little patches of upturned dirt. He didn't know how the whole farming for crops thing worked. All he knew was that you planted day lilies in the spring or autumn and they bloom in the summer. Then there was the soil acidity levels and watering, plus grooming and dividing clumps. Okay, so maybe he knew slightly more than he thought about farming, but not enough to actually have a farm. If he remembered correctly, there was a girl farmer who had a farm here. Kane guessed that was Claire.

He walked up to the gate and leaned over it. Immediately, a dog came running up to the gate with a freaky-demonic look on his face and barking like someone just shot at him with a crazy bullet. Kane pushed himself on the gate with a jump and staggered back. The dog contined to jump up at the gate, trying to get over it. He looked like a beagle, which is weird because Kane read somewhere that beagles were suppose to be one of the nicest breed of dogs out there. He stood up, trying to look big and bad, showing the dog how's boss. It didn't work the way Kane had planned. Instead of running off into the corner of the farm, never to be heard of again so long as Kane was there the dog promptly rolled over on his back, begging for his belly to be scratched.

"...The hell?" the baffled idiot stepped forward and leaned over the gate, rubbing the beagle's underside hesitantly. He only gained confidence when the dog--who Kane found to be Crazy Loco as stated his dog tag--started shaking his leg in a pleasured haze. No one seemed to really be around so Kane opened the gate and went through. Upon doing so, Loco rolled over and made a mad dash for his tennis ball, brown and tattered with use. He dropped it in front of Kane, wjho knew immediately what he wanted. He picked up the ball, searched the farm for a safe place to throw it without having the dog hurt the crops, and threw it as hard as he could towards the chicken coop. Loco's little legs pumped as hard as they could and carried him over to the chicken coop where he jumped into the air and caught the ball in his mouth with ease.

"Wow! That was awesome, Loco!" Kane clapped and praised Loco with petting and rubbing when the dog pranced proudly back to his spot. He clicked his tongue as reward. Kane wasn't sure if it had the same effect as a conventional clicker, like the one his Nana's neighbor down the street had.

Her name was Angie. She was a older woman, about fifty-something years old, with two grand-kids. Her yard was the only one that was fenced in. Apparently the woman who had lived there before her had a dog. Well, Angie had three: a scottish terrier, a jack russel JR., and some weird mixed dog that was twice the size of both. Her grandkids visited every summer. The granddaughter, Kaetlyn, a sarcastically sweet sixteen year old latina, even got herself a job with his Nana at the day lily farm. Her brother was eleven and energetic, borderline rude. But they both kept him company. He would have gotten himself in a relationship with Kaetlyn if he was allowed to go to the farm that summer. But obviously that didn't happen. Lucky for her, one of the richest boys in the Northern Neck had his eyes on her for almost three years. At least _she_ wasn't alone.

Kane looked at the ball in his hand. He gave it a half-hearted toss across the fields, not even realizing what he had doen until it was too late. "Wait-no, stop!" but the little dog had ran around all the crops and plants, choosing the long route to the bouncing ball, which had well bounced itself into the stream. Loco happily lept into the water, ears flopping and all. Kane chuckled to himself and looked over the fields. "Well trained..." he whispered to no one in particular. He examined the soil. It was looking dry in the summer heat. It wouldn't hurt if he watered the crops. Claire's kid just took a dive off the steps, she would appreciate a little less work, right? He looked around for a hose or something. There was one curled up next the the house. Beside it was a watering can.

_Which one do I use?_ he contemplated. The hose would be easier and faster, so obviously that one. The watering can could have simply been for decoration for all he knew.

Loco came running up to Kane, but stopped at a patch of whatever and shook himself off, watering the dirt with his shakings. Kane raised an eyebrow.

"_Really_ well trained." he turned on the hose, pointing it towards the fields, but as soon as he turned the handle a fraction of an inch, water spewed out at an alarming rate, with the force of an RPG. He jumped for the fourth time that day and shut the water off as fast as he could. "Okay, well that explains the watering can..." Kane picked up the watering can, but instead of filling it with the rocket propelled hose, he trotted over to the pond to fill it.

He looked over the edge, seeing all the different fish. A little ways away there was a large plastic bucket labeled "fishie feed" in child-like handwriting. He walked over and grabbed a fistful, throwing it into the water. The fish swam frantically, creating a feeding frenzy between the five that were in there. When the feed was eaten, the fish returned to their lazy floating about. He chuckled. "Bipolar fish. Nice." He filled the can, letting it _blurb blurb blurb_ until it was full.

The watering was the hard part. Kane was nervous about actually pouring the water out. He didn't want to drown the seeds, but he didn't want to put too little and have them fry in the sun and die. He painstakingly eyeballed the soil until he felt that his eyes were ready to fall out and roll into the ground. And when that happened, he threw the ball to Loco for a few times, then continued his work. When the watering was done, he set down the can next the evil RPH (rocket propelled hose) and looked around. He really had no idea what to do next.

"There's a barn." Kane noted, and started over.

* * *

When I woke up, I could have sworn there was a horse dancing on my head. The best part was when Popuri screamed, "Ohmygawdess!!" and Mia gasped "She's awake!!" and dropped a metal tray or something.

"OhMyGAWD shut your gobs or I'll stuff Peter Rabbit's cotton tail in your mouth and scream Easter." my head pounded as I yelled, but it got them to shut up right?

"Well you sound better." Kai grumbled. I saw that the Doc had pulled back the examination curtain so everyone in the waiting room could see me.

I sat up. "Aside from the whiplash and the throbbing pain all over my body, I'd say no, on I am definately not better." Doctor Doom came into the examination area, A.K.A. my home away from home, with his handy-dandy clipboard under his arm. He flipped some pages and looked at me disapprovingly. Okay, don't get me wrong, I love Timmy and all, but that look seriously chesses my whiskers. Yes, I did just make that up and no, you can't use it. I copyrighted it. No, no. Right now? Yeah, I just copyrighted it.

Of course, looking at him looking at _me_ like that just got me all defensive. So when he opened his doctorly mouth, I immediately cut him off. "Yes, I understand that I was just in here not even an hour ago. Yes, I value my life. Yes I understand that I'm a woman and yes, I get that I could really ef up my body by being careless. No, my mind is still in my skull, my marble are in my pocket, I'm sure I'm not crazy, and no. I'm not on any illegal drugs." he gaped at me. "Did I miss any?"

"Raegan Gale!" Mom looked beside herself. And pissed. Dad raised his eyebrow (hate when he does that), Kai looked proud of me, Cara looked like she expected it and Popuri, Mia and Elli were all like "Waht?!"

Doctor began pulling on some latex gloves, trying to keep his cool. "Is she always this...vocal?" Okay, now that just made me mad.

"Hey, you don't like it, blame the pain. Your Vicadin sucks." Mom jolted like she really didn't know who I was anymore, and Dad's raised eyebrow began to sink into a scowl. "What? I'm in pain here, you can't expect me to be all smiles with rainbows shooting outta my bee-hind." I personally am not blaming the pain. I know I'm a lot on the rude side of the social fence, but Doctor Buttface is starting to pump me full of bull.

With that, Doctor Feelgood stuck me not so gently with a needle and injected me with anti-owie meds. "Yeah, while you're at it, why don't you stick me with some shut-up juice?" Come on. Who gets their patients back by stabbing them with a syringe?

Dr. Timantha the drama queen narrowed his eyes at me. Yeah, you better narow those eye before I pluck 'em out. "I'm in the process of developing such serum. I've had enough of your quips."

"And thus the showdown begins!" Kai announced conspicuously.

Popuri hit him with the same level of conspicuousness as Kai, "Kai~" she whined. Will this day ever end.

Doctor threw the needle away. "Anyway, you're fine except for the broken ankle."

It was my turn to look like a little fishie.. My mouth was hanging wide open and I bet you any amount of money my eyes went buggy as well. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, are you for serious?!" You see, I make it a point not to break anything during the summer. It's not like I'm purposely trying to break ribs during the school year (which I only did in third grade, thank you) but I just don't care. Breaking bones during the summer is a waste of...well, summer! I looked at my new fiber glass cast, wrapped neating around my ankle. It was neon orange, a bright and annoying version of my favorite color. I sighed and looked up at my wondermous audience. "So, uh...who wants to sign my cast?"

I've kept every cast I've had since the first. All of them and in the attic, in chronological order. And since I can get to the attic through a door in my closet, I go up there whenever I'm feeling sad, sentimental, or as bored as a modern ten year old in the DMV.

Well, after the evil Dragon let us free of his clutches, my 'rents, my second 'rents, and my silly self were on our way to go say "Hi-llo" to the chicken people, which consists of the lovely Mizz Lillia, the beautiful Mizzuz Karen, and Rick. Zack had to tend to this new trade shop he and that Chinese Dude-Face Won set up. For all you faithful Mineral Town junkies, Zack and Lillia got married 'bout ten or so years ago when Lillia (bless her little chicken heart) found out Ray was dead, kapuit.

So onwards and forwards we went to the Poultry farm. Which is funny because the Poultry Farmers never butchered the Polurty Farmees and sold them in plastic packaging. Dad was carrying me, much like he used to when I was but a wee wittle serial retorter. Dad was also fretting about my health and safety and I'm his little girl and blah blah blah. Only all this was in his head. I would know because I used to do that when I would lose my ferret. I didn't want to yell at the cute little tike, but I still worried my brains into a zombie slurpee.

"Hey, Papa Bear, what's going on in the wondermous world of Cliffard of the Grapevine?" If there's one thing I know about Big Daddy it's that you can cure what ails him by making him laugh. And, hey, people laugh at the way I talk anyway so it all works out.

He chuckled, albeit it sounded nervous, but still, it was a nervous release of pent up worry. "Oh, I'm just wondering how my only daughter is still alive after all the beating she's been through." he shook his head, which caused his ponytail to tickle my chest. Mom is in love with his ponytail, and she will _not_ let him cut it off. She will, however, make him cut it if it starts to pass his shoulder blades. Ooh, this one time for Halloween (called the Pumkin Festival here for some reason. My Mom and Popuri (who was influenced by Kai) got the whole Halloween thing started. They talked to Mayor Thomas (who is pretty old now) into doing a little costume contest, which was a hit, and soon people began to make it a skit kinda thing. Like a talent show, but not really. Anyway, what I was getting at was Mom made Dad grow out his ponytail because she made him dress up as a sexy vampire, and I don't mean in black leather and gothic attire, I mean Victorian puffy shirt with a red vest and black pants, and she and him re-enacted some old vampire movie where the vampire and the maiden shared some silver kiss with love and junk. Actaully, now that I think of it, I calculated my date of conceivement to be on that night...Uh...

Ew.

"You really do need to take better care of yourself," Dad continued. I pulled up his ponytailand tickled his nose with it. "You're the only child I have. I don't want to lose you."

"He doesn't want a heartattack either." Kai chimed in, shifting my crutches in his grip.

"Thank you, Kai." Dad made his fatal attempt to dismiss his comment when Popuri perked up.

"Or another dramatic fainting spell!" The smile on her face suggested that she was proud to be adding her two cents into an adult conversation. Kinda like the time Aiden stood up in class and went "My baby sister Marie was made whne Daddy put his penis in Mommy's vagina and--" of course he didn't get to finish because the teacher, like, freaked out and slapped his mouth shut. _Then_ she put the poor kid it the corner and called Ann to tell her what he said. Oh, and bee-tee-double-u, you will meet Aiden and Marie later on, I promise.

"And thank you, Popuri." Dad sighed, still maintaining the smile though. What a trooper.

"Didn't Mom, like, carry you to the clinic?" I asked, just trying to embarass my poor Dad further.

He made a choking sound and said, "For your information, Claire left me out in the snow."

Mom looked all frantic. "Well, it was to go find help!"

"I know, I know." Dad smiled that smile that made Mom's heart flutter like a mayfly, and Mom smiled that smile that made Dad revert back to a chuckling little Shy Guy.

"I would never leave you." she murmured.

"I know." Dad kissed her on the mouth, while they were walking mind you.

I pretended to splash monkey and dropped my head on my Dad's shoulder. "If you guys are gonna consumate your marriage, then can I get off the love train and at least walk so I don't, you know, puke?"

Mom laughed. "Like you don't borrow romantic novels from Mary's library."

"For the last time, that woman suggested them, I swear!"

While we were all laughing and carrying on, Popuri stopped in her tracks. "Kai-baby, where did Kane go?"

The Ackerman family, which was pretty much Shy Guy, Peach, and Daisy, all turned to the lovely couple, our faces going "WAAAAAAAAAHT?!?!" but our mouths all going "Who's Kane?" at the same time. Heh. Bet your immediate family can't talk in unison.

Before we could get any immediate answer out of Kai and Popuri, who looked kinda pale, I happened to turn my eyes to the farm. My farm. The one where, as my eyes were scanning it, had mysteriously watered and weeded itself. And I suppose the cows and chickens grew thumbs, too, because they were all outside in their respective pens having a good old time watching some random goth looking dude I didn't know who was smiling and tossing the tennis ball to Crazy Loco, who was MY DOG. And he probably watered the plants. AND he must have weeded the field. _AND_ he had to have let the animals out. _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND_.....

He was shirtless.

Immediately bells and whistles were sounding off in my head and I started bucking, trying to get off my Dad's back while pointing and screaming, "OHMY JESUS CHRIST ON A BIKE THERE'S A SHIRTLESS STRANGER ON THE FARM exclaimation point exclamation point!!!"

The trusted adults flanking me immediately whipped their heads to Gothic Wonder Boy, who by now had dropped the ball, and his happy face, which had fallen to the ground and shattered into a million bite sized pieces that no one would ever want to eat. Ever.

Kai stomped forward. "Kane, what the hell are you doing over there?!" He was fuming. And I was watching Kai and Popuri closely.

Popuri turned to my Mom. "Claire, I am so sorry about this. If I had known he was gone sooner, I would have gotten him." That sentence alone caused red flags to shoot up in my head. By this time, we had gathered an audience. Gray came out with his son Alan, who looked _exactly_ like him, minus the hair and multi-colored eyes, and the Poultry parade, complete with son Ray (named after his gramps) who I thought was going to be working in the Supermarket today.

Mom shushed Pop and Kai and leaned over the gate. "Kane, sweetheart." she looked around the farm. "Did you do all this by yourself?"

Kane nodded his head slowly, not sure how Mom was going to react. He was getting more and more frazzled by the attention as the seconds ticked away, but Mom just smiled, elated. "Thank you so much, dear heart! You have no idea how much you've helped me today, what with the farm and telling me about my clumsy daughter, Rae."

"I'm not--" but Mom interrupted me.

"Where are you from, hun?" she leaned in, waiting for the answer, but Kane simply pointed to Kai and Popuri.

Everyone within a twenty foot radius went, "WAAAAAAAAAAHT!?!?!"

"You have a kid?!?" Mom's voice squeaked at the "kid" part.

"I have a nefew!?" Rick and Karen squeaked in unison.

Ray grinned, thoroughly excited. "I've seriously got a cousin?!" his moppy red hair stood up, a weird quirk he had.

I turn around to look at Gray and Alan, but they already went back inside. They never really cared much about gossip.

Through all of this excitement, the man of the hour straightened up, a defiant and confused look on his face. Everyone seemed to have caught the movement and looked at him. He looked straight at Kai and Popuri, and asked the question that everyone had on their minds.

"Why doesn't anyone know about me?"

* * *

**://Authorly Notes\\:** WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOw.... Dundun dun moment, eh? Anyway, Rae is actually a piece of myself. So It;s really funny when I stop writing and go to talk to someone and say something totally off the wall like "Hey Papa Bear, can you get me a Mexican creation of culinary goodness, por favor? Thank you please." and the person I'm conversing with looks at me like, "WTF didi you just say?"

Next: **Chapter IV: "Impression"**


	4. Impressions

**//:Authorly Notes://** First off, I used the word "fag" in this chapter. In case you haven't noticed, none of the views in this story reflect on my own views. I know my parents love me, I am very careful with my body, I respect others, and I don't think fag is a nice word in reference to a gay person. Oh, and I know what goth people are and don't think of them in the typical stereotypical way.

* * *

**Untitled Until Further Notice**

Chapter IV: "Impressions"

Kane knew that he wasn't the prized son the Kai and Popuri wanted. Even still, he didn't expect that the whole town didn't know him. He didn't even understand why his aunt and uncle didn't remember him, or why Ray was so excited to have a cousin, even though he's had one for seventeen years. The only explanation that was semi-apparent was the fact that his maternal family members had simply not know that Kane was their blood. Suddenly it became increasingly difficult not to break down and just cry. He saw Rae look at him, sympathy etched into her face like a battle scar. He didn't want her sympathy. He just wanted to get the hell out of there. And while Kai and Popuri were being stared down, looking more and more at a loss of words, Kane pulled on his shirt and turned around, feet bound to the bridge that went into the forest. It was the only part of Mineral Town that came to him with such familiarity. While his feet were pounding the soil of the fields, he felt Rae's eyes, boring into his back, curious and for some reason, angry.

The forest hadn't changed. It was the only thing in the town that seemed fresh in his mind, even though he had only been to the town once before. Rick and company almost always came to their house in the city to visit for the holidays, and even then they had only visited four times for maybe a day and stopped visiting after Ray was born. Kane shoved his hands in his pockets and felt the bandana there. For some reason, it was still a comfort; still a reminder that his loving parents had truly loved him at one point. He pulled it out of his pocket, passing a road that branched off to his left and another to his right. The fabric was faded from its deep, vibrant purple to a dustier, worn shade.

The sound of running water joined with bird song as he neared a lake. It was still sparkling in the sunlight, a silver shimmer that left him in awe, at least it did the first time he came to Mineral Town, but that was when he was, like, four, and everything awed him. Today, after coming to the conclusion that rain would complete his mood, Kane wasn't the least bit impressed. He wanted nothing more than to find a nice, dark place to just break down and cry, and then brood, and maybe tell himself men don't cry and get up and make Kai and Popuri feel like shit because he was facing them.

He passed the lake without so much as a glance. As he was walking toward the flower field, he remembered there being a mine or something next to the spring or whatever. "Whatever." Kane repeated out loud.

The flower field was deemed "dangerous" a couple decades back, but as far as Kane knew, nothing has happened there since the day Gatz or Gots or whoever said it was dangerous. Apparently no one really went there though, so what the hell? It wasn't dark, but it was private. Before he even reached the middle of the field, Kane had decided he wasn't the sensitive type and thought it better to revise his depression cycle. Instead of crying, he would skip straight to the brooding part. He plopped down into the grass, taking a small delight to the insects and bits of pollen and dandelion seed that fluttered up from the ground. He immediately squashed the joy, preferring to be sad. "I'm such a fag." He sighed to himself. "An effing drama queen." A squirrel fell out of a tree to his right and rocketed across the field, only for a flying squirrel to jump out and glide down, almost kamikaze like, onto the squirrel's back. He wrestled him to the ground in a mass of chaotic fur. The whole scene was pretty funny, and Kane couldn't suppress the laughter that came.

For a brief moment, Kane had forgotten all the things that happened, and for a brief moment he allowed for the enjoyment of the world around him to settle in, knowing full well that he hadn't felt this way in a long time. Sadly, as soon as he remembered why he doesn't feel this happy all the time, the feeling was immediately razed, and Kane was left with his mouth hanging open, just staring at the massive gray rain cloud that came floating in, and his melancholy life sank into his chest once again.

* * *

I, being my amazing self with mad ninja skills, was able to easily slink away from the situation, not that I would have wanted to hang anyway, I mean, Pop looked like she was going to cry and Kai was just frozen with his stupid neglectful mouth hanging down to his knees.

I think when I got to…Oh maybe the first square of corn, everyone started talking and asking questions at once. It was like a cacophony of crazy psycho nerds wanting to know about the newest Star Wars movie. Or something…Ah what the eff.

So anyway, I was pretty pissed because Kai and Popuri were totally suppose to be Kane's paternal units, but they didn't even tell the town about their own kid? I mean, what the effing hells bells, yo?! Shoot…So I can only imagine how completely heavyhearted the poor kid is. I mean, I know goth kids are suppose to be all sad and angry like, but this kid just found out that his 'rents totally don't talk about him. I mean even his grandparent and uncly-kin people didn't know who he was. Can you say ouch? I would be pitching a hissy fit.

So Kane was a goth kid, which means he would probably be looking for a nice, quiet, dark place to think about killing himself, right? So he's probably at the mine, right? Though I can't get why, I mean it smells like the locker room of a team of mud-wrestling sumos. And on top of that, it's just not the kinda place you'd sit and cry in. People go in there. Like Gray and Alan, or my mom? It would still be a pretty bright idea to check it out though, just in case. I broke into a trot and made my way up to the mine, but I didn't even have to go all the way up the hill to figure out that there was no one even there. "Well, where the hellsicle did he go, then?" I huffed and put my hands on my hips.

I walked around the woodsy area for a little bit. I really wasn't sure where exactly I was looking for Kane. I just was looking around. I didn't really look with all that much detail because I really didn't worry about whether or not I'd find the little emo kid. I guess I just knew that I would find him, so it really didn't surprise me when I saw a black spot lying in the DANGEROUS FLOWERS DUN DUN DUN.

"Kane!" I called out to him. I wasn't about to go into the DANGEROUS FLOWERS DUN DUN DUN because they're dangerous. I don't know why, and I've never questioned the authoriteh of the people giving caveat against the DANGEROUS FLOWERS DUN DUN DUN. Besides, I have allergies from Hades and didn't feel like effing around with pollen.

Kane himself was lying on his back all wistful-like with one leg crossed over the other and his hands behind his head. He pushed himself up with his elbows and looked over his shoulder at me, which, I will humbly admit, was adora-friggin'-ble. He sat up cross legged once he saw it was me and put on his best "eff off" face, but I mean come on, his eyes were all big and cute, there was no way I was just going to walk off.

"If you break your leg again, I'm leaving you here."

But, of course, he had to open his damn mouth.

"You smoking reefer, or something?" I raised my eyebrow at him, but before I could unleash some Rae Level Barbs, he dropped his bad-boy act and looked away from me. "Are you doing alright?" I asked gently.

"Peachy." He retorted.

"You know, if you're hungry you can come to our house and eat something." I offered. "We still haven't eaten yet."

He snorted. "I wonder why."

"Okay, now can't you think of any better come backs?"

"I find that people who ask if other people can think of better comebacks just don't know what to say to a classic."

Uh…Okay?

I cocked my head to the side. Did he just call me stupid? That bastard better hope I don't get my hands on him or he's going to wish his head was up a cow's—

"Do you always get hurt like that?"

The sudden sound of his voice shook me outta my Kane-Cow-Butt visual. "Wuddya mean?"

He sighed. "You're covered in bandages, what do you think I mean?" He turned to look at me. His eyes looked pained and whatnot, but not as devastated as I would have thought.

"You seem to be taking the parental issue better than I would have thought." I offered up some conversation, but he just turned back to the sky.

"Tch. Figures."

I put my hands on my hips. "What figures?" He kept silent. "Go ahead, say it." I dared.

"You're just another one of those kids who like to feel needed but they don't really—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" I interrupted. "Don't ever say I'm like another one of 'those kids' and for your information, I was actually—"

"Concerned? Yeah, that's bullshit—"

"Just because you're all goth and wearing black you think you can storm around acting this way and that—"

"You sound stereotypical. Just like every other—"

"I'm not like everyone else—"

"If I had a fucking dollar—"

"But you just don't know when to shut the—"

"Hell up before I—"

"Kick your ever loving—"

By this point, I had crossed the barrier between road and grass and was well into the field. Kane had stood up, and the more we argued and finished each other's razor sharp insults, the closer we became to each other. It didn't take long before I saw that he towered over my miniscule 5 foot nothingness, but I was so wrapped up in the idea of wringing his smooth, sexy neck into a bendy straw, that I didn't care, and instead of getting all cautious and stuff, I just stared him straight in the eye. The way he looked back at me just lit a fire in my chest. Yes, yes, I know. It's a metaphor for he's so hot I want to tackle him into the grass. And I will be the first to admit that I did, but he also tweezed my whiskers.

We both stopped talking and just held each other's gazes, both daring the other to look away. The atmosphere felt like a storm was coming. A rain drop landed in my eye. Kane burst out with laughter, and whatever tension that was between us melted with the rain.

* * *

**//:Authorly Afters://** I had a hard time getting into my Rae character this go around…Very disappointing. Rae, oh where hast thou gone?


End file.
